Will the Republican Party of Mississippi Follow Its Own Rules?

Mississippi State Sen. Chris McDaniel officially announced the beginning of a legal effort to challenge the results of his primary fight against six-term incumbent Sen. Thad Cochran, reports ABC News. The campaign formally filed a challenge with the Mississippi Republican Party’s executive committee, the official first step to mounting a legal challenge.

The 28-page complaint sets forth a compelling case for numerous violations of the Mississippi Republican Party’s rules and Mississippi election law that resulted in incumbent Senator Cochran’s tainted win in the June 24 Mississippi Republican Senate Runoff.

Since the July 24 runoff McDaniel volunteers have (despite the lack of cooperation and in some cases patently illegal actions by local Republican Party and election officials) uncovered 3,500 cross over voters, 9,500 votes they believe have irregularities, and 2,275 absentee ballots that Chris McDaniel’s lead attorney Mitch Tyner said they believe were “cast that should not have been [cast].”

That makes about 15,000 tainted votes in an election that incumbent Senator Thad Cochran allegedly won by a little over 7,600 votes.

But the big question is not “Is there enough evidence to throw out the results of the runoff?” It is “will the Republican Party of Mississippi follow its own rules and do so?”

McDaniel brought his complaint in part under Mississippi Code Section 23-15-923 that says:

“…a person desiring to contest the election of another returned as the nominee in state, congressional and judicial districts, and in legislative districts composed of more than one (1) county or parts of more than one (1) county, upon complaint filed with the Chairman of the State Executive Committee, by petition, reciting the grounds upon which the election is contested. If necessary and with the advice of four (4) members of said committee, the chairman shall issue his fiat to the chairman of the appropriate county executive committee, and in like manner as in the county office, the county committee shall investigate the complaint and return their findings to the chairman of the state committee. The State Executive Committee by majority vote of members present shall declare the true results of such primary.”

State GOP Chairman Joe Nosef told Gannett’s Jackson Clarion-Ledger on Monday that for the initial challenge filing with the party, he will act essentially as a judge and the 50 or so members of the party executive committee as a jury. But, Nosef said, rules and procedures are somewhat unclear.

According to Geoff Pender, of The Clarion-Ledger, Nosef said his first steps will be to appoint four members of the executive committee to serve as an advisory board, then come up with a process on which the McDaniel and Cochran camps can agree.

The problem there is that the Mississippi Republican state executive committee has long been the personal fiefdom of former Governor and Super Lobbyist Haley Barbour and his nephew and consigliore Henry Barbour who are at the very heart of the alleged improper acts.

And their handpicked Mississippi GOP Chairman, Joe Nosef, appears to have already pre-judged the issue against Chris McDaniel. Indeed Nosef went so far as to attack True The Vote’s efforts to gain access to election records to assist in the McDaniel campaign’s review of the runoff ballots. (You can read the Breitbart article on the subject through this link.)

In the press conference announcing the formal challenge of the runoff, McDaniel told supporters and reporters gathered it’s important to be “dispassionate about the facts.”

“The facts they’re on our side, the law is on our side,” ABC quoted McDaniel as saying. “This is an opportunity for our party to take the lead on honest, good, and transparent government. As Republicans, we talk about the need for transparency, as Republicans we want open debate and dialogue, honesty, transparency, and integrity are hallmarks of the conservative movement. We anticipate the Republican executive committee will grant us a hearing, we anticipate they will do it in a public forum.”

“The integrity of the elections process in the state of Mississippi matters,” McDaniel said according to ABC. “But, likewise the integrity of the Republican Party and its primary system…it matters as well.”

When McDaniel’s attorney was asked if he thought anyone should go to jail over the situation, Tyner said he wouldn’t “predict…but if I had a choice, yes.”

We agree with Chris McDaniel that the integrity of the Republican Party and its primary system matters; the question is will the members of the Mississippi Republican state executive committee throw-off the influence of the Barbour machine and have the integrity to enforce their own Party rules?

I have no doubt that Chris McDaniel won that runoff election, but I have little fatgh that the Republican Party will invalidate the results. Their boy won even if it was by cheating and they will not do anything to change things and make them right. They are like democrats along those lines. That is why the Tea Party is so important. The two political parties are to much alike.